Pipe vise



w. NEEF ETAL Q 2,958,245

PIPE VISE Nov. 1, 1960 Filed Dec. 18, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTORS. M72 87 4 6f JQWaZZ/PTZITW Z' Nov. 1, 1960 w. NEEF ETAL 2,958,245

PIPE VISE Filed Dec. 18, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 3 E 1 1 INVENTOR PIPE VISE Walter Neef and Donald P. Turner, Toledo, Ohio, as-

signors to The Toledo Pipe Threading Machine (10., a corporation of Ohio Filed Dec. 18, 1957, Ser. No. 703,521

4 Claims. (Cl. 81-19) This invention relates generally to clamping devices and more particularly to a pipe vise.

An object of this invention is to provide an improved pipe vise.

Another object of this invention is to provide a pipe vise which includes a plurality of jaw members of duplicate construction removably mounted on the vise to facilitate manufacture of the vise.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a pipe vise which is simple in construction, economical to manufacture, and etficient in operation in clamping pipes of various sizes in the vise.

Further objects, features and advantages of this invention will become apparent from a consideration of the following description, the appended claims and the accompanying drawing in which:

Figure 1 is a front elevation of one form of the pipe vise of this invention, showing the vise in a position for clamping a pipe therein, certain parts being broken away and shown in section.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary side elevation of the vise illustrated in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary longitudinal sectional view of a portion of the pipe vise shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a rear elevation of the pipe vise shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is a diagrammatic view illustrating the relative positions of the pipe jaws for various pipe sizes;

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary horizontal sectional view looking substantially along the line 66 in Fig. 1;

Fig. 7 is a front elevation, illustrated similarly to Fig. l, of a modified form of the pipe vise of this invention;

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary side elevation of the vise shown in Fig. 7;

Fig. 9 is a fragmentary sectional view looking along the line 99 in Fig. 6;

Fig. 10 is a fragmentary longitudinal sectional view of the upper jaws and the supporting structure therefor in the vise shown in Fig. 6;

Fig. 11 is a diagrammatic view, illustrating the positions of the vise jaws for clamping pipes of different diameters;

Fig. 12 is a fragmentary transverse sectional view looking along the line 12-12 in Fig. 7; and

Fig. 13 is a perspective view of a jaw member used in both forms of the vise of this invention.

With reference to the drawing, the pipe vise of this invention, indicated generally at 20, is illustrated in Fig. 1 as including a base 22 and an inverted U-shaped frame 24 positioned above and hinged to the base 22. The frame 24 has a base or bight portion 26 and a pair of substantially parallel, depending leg portions 28 and 30. A transverse pin 31 hingedly connects the terminal end of the leg portion 28 to one end of the base 22. The leg portion 30 terminates in a forked section 32 which carries a pivotally supported depending hook member 36, engageable with a latch pin 38 carried by an opposing forked section 40 on the base 22.

By disengaging the hook 36 from the latch pin 38, the

298,245 Patented Nov. 1, 1960 frame 24 is swingable in a counterclockwise direction as viewed in Fig. 1, about the pivot pin 31, to a position to one side of the base 22 so that a pipe can readily be supported on the base 22.

The base 22 has downwardly converging flat surfaces 42 terminating at their lower ends in an upwardly extending center projection 44 having inclined side portions 46. A pair of jaws 48, supported on the surfaces 42 on opposite sides of the center projection 44, are duplicates and are of a generally rectangular shape. Each jaw 48 (Fig. 13) has a flat bottom surface 50 supported on one of the surfaces 42 and a flat side 52 abutting an adjacent inclined side portion 46 of the center projection 44. A cap screw 54 positioned in a counterbored opening 56 in each jaw 48 is threaded into the base 22 to hold the jaw 48 in a fixed position on the surface 42.

The top side of each 48 is formed with parallel grooves 58 having curved surfaces to form pointed teeth 60 between the grooves 58. The jaws 48 are economically formed by an extrusion or a machining process and when heat treated are of a uniform surface hardness in the area of the teeth 60 by virtue of the provision of the curved grooves 58 to form the teeth 60. Furthermore, by virtue of the curved shape of the grooves 58, any danger of cracking or breaking of a jaw 48 at positions between the teeth 60 is virtually eliminated. The outermost pair of teeth 60 project outwardly further than the inner teeth so that the top side of the jaw 48 is gen erally concave in a direction transversely thereof. This shape adapts the jaws for engaging the surface of a pipe.

It is seen, therefore, that when the cap screws 54 are utilized to mount the jaws 48 on the downwardly converging surfaces 42, the top sides of the jaws are similarly arranged in a downwardly converging relation on opposite sides of the projection 44, with the teeth 60 extending transversely of the base 22 on opposite sides of the projection 44.

A head member 62 is slidably mounted on the frame 24 for up and down movement toward and away from the base 22. As best appears in Figs. 3 and 6, the head member 62 is formed at each end with horizontally spaced flanges or rims 64 which straddle upright rails 66 formed on the leg portions 28 and 30 of the frame 24. As a result, the head member 62 is movable up and down on the frame 24 with the rails 66 acting to guide the head-member movement.

The head member is formed so that the rails 66 provide a lose guiding movement to permit limited horizontal tilting movement of the head member 62 relative to the frame 24 as illustrated in the dotted line position of the head member 62 shown in Fig. 1. In other words, the head member 62 is of a size relative to the spacing of the rails 66 to provide for a limited amount of play between the head member and the rails.

As best appears in Fig. 3, the head member 62 is provided with an upright opening 68 which communicates at its lower end with an enlarged cavity 70. A single jaw member 72, which duplicates the jaw members 48 mounted on the base 22 is positioned within the cavity 70. The jaw 72 has a flat top surface 80, positioned at the inner end of the cavity 70, and a toothed, lower gripping surface 82 which faces the jaws 48.

An upright shaft 74, provided with threads 76, has a reduced lower end portion 78 which extends downwardly through the head member opening 68. A self-locking cap screw 86 extends through the jaw 72 into a threaded axial opening in the shaft 74 for attaching the jaw 72 to the shaft 74 and for maintaining the jaw 72 in a position supporting the head member 62. The jaw '72 is loosely supported on the head of the self-locking cap screw 86 as shown in Fig. 3 so that it can move to center itself on a pipe in the vise.

As best appears in Fig. 1, the shaft 74 is threadably supported in the bight portion 26 of the frame 24 and carries a handle 88 at its upper end. Accordingly, the handle 88 is operable to rotate the shaft 74 and move the head member 62 up and down on the guides 66 toward and away from the jaws 48 on the base 22.

In use, the base 22 is bolted to a stationary support. The frame 24 is disconnected from the base 22, by releasing the hook 36, and swung about the pivot 31 to a position to one side of the base 22. A horizontally disposed pipe is then readily moved to a supported posi tion on the jaws 48 and the frame 24 is swung in an op posite direction to the position illustrated in Fig. 1, fol lowing which the hook 36 is engaged with the latch pin 38. A transverse extension 90 (Fig. 2) on the base 22 has an upwardly extending end portion 92 which terminates in a \/shape surface 94 for co-operating with the jaws 48 to support the pipe at spaced horizontal positions thereon to avoid any tendency of a long pipe to tip on the vise. The extension i= has an inverted U-shape portion 91 which is readily used to hold a pipe to be bent. As a result, the vase 20 is provided with what might be termed a built-in support for use in bending pipe.

The handle 88 is rotated to move the head member 62 and the jaw 72 downwardly into engagement with the pipe so that the pipe is securely clamped between the two lower jaws 48 and the single upper jaw 72. By virtue of the mounting of the head member 62 for limited tilting movement, the head member readily adjusts itself on the rails 66 to a position in which the loosely suspended jaw 72 centers itself on the pipe being clamped. In other words, the loose support of the head member 62 prevents any binding of the head member on the rails 66 when the handle 38 is rotate-d to apply a full pressure of the jaw 72 to the pipe being clamped. Furthermore, since the jaw 72 is mounted directly on the lower end of the shaft 74, none of the downward force applied by the shaft 74 is wasted in transmission to the jaw 72. The head member 62, which does not require machining, functions to support the lower end of the shaft 74 against lateral and transverse movement.

One of the main advantages of the vise of this invention is that it is readily usable with pipes of various sizes. As illustrated diagrammatically in Fig. 5, a pipe 95a of maximum size is clamped between the jaws '72 and 48 so that the pipe is positively prevented from moving in either direction out of its position between the jaws. The teeth on the upper jaw 72 are all engaged with the pipe 95a and the outer teeth on the jaws 48 engage the underside of the pipe. A pipe 95b of medium size is similarly efficiently clamped between the lower jaws 48 and the upper jaws 72, with only the central teeth on the upper jaw 72 engaging the top side of the pipe 95!). A pipe of minimum size 95c, when clamped in the vise 2G, is engaged only by the innermost teeth 60 on the lower jaws 48 and the central teeth on the jaw 72. In all cases, the pipe is engaged at three positions which are circumferentially spaced in proportion to the peripheral dimension of the pipe. This threepoint engagement provides the desired positive clamping action.

In one commercial embodiment of the invention, the minimum size pipe illustrated at 95!: is one-eighth inch pipe and the maximum size pipe 95a is two and one-half inch pipe.

A modified form of the pipe vise of this invention, indicated generally at 26a is illustrated in Fig. 7. Since the vises 20 and 241a are similar in many respects, like numerals with the letter suflix a are used on the vise 20a to indicate like parts on the vise 20. In general, vise 20a has a base 22a, a frame 24a pivotally connected at 31a to the base 22a and provided with a depending hook 36a which is releasably cngageable with a pin 38a on the base 22a. The vise 20a also has a head memher 62a slidably supported on a pair of facing rails 66a on the frame 24a for limited tilting movement. A threaded shaft 74a carried by the frame 24a has an actuating handle 88a and is connected at its lower end to the head member 62a for moving the head member up and down relative to the base 22a.

Mounted on the base member 22a, at a position substantially centrally thereof, is a jaw member 100, which is similar to the jaw members 48 and 72, previously described in connection with the vise 29. A pair of jaw members 1%, which duplicate the jaw 100, are mounted on the base 22 at equal distances on opposite sides of the jaw 10%). The jaws and 102 are of an over-all shape corresponding substantially to the shape of the jaw 48 shown in Fig. 13, but are each provided with a pair of counterbored mounting openings 103 (Fig. 9) as contrasted with the single opening 56 provided for each jaw 48. Cap screws 1114 having heads and shanks corresponding in diameter to the counterbored openings in the jaws 100 and 1112 extend through the openings 1133 and provide for a releasable attachment of the jaws to the base 22a.

As best appears in Figs. 7 and 9, the base 22a is formed with curved projections 1116 arranged on opposite sides of the jaw 10% and extending upwardly and outwardly from the jaw 100. Each projection 106 extends between one of the jaws 1112 and the adjacent side of the center jaw 100. As a result, the projections 106 cooperate with the downwardly converging jaws 102 to direct a pipe to a position centered with respect to the base 22a and in most cases supported on the jaw 100. Furthermore, the projections 106 prevent small pipes from lodging between the vise jaws.

The head member 62a (Fig. 10) is formed with a pair of upwardly converging flat surfaces 110 which terminate at opposite sides of a downwardly inclined projection 112 similar to the projection 44 on the vise 20. A pair of jaw members 114, which duplicate the jaw members 100 and 102, have their fiat sides 116 positioned against the surfaces 110 and their adjacent sides positioned against opposite fiat sides of the projection 112. A pair of bolts 118, having shanks and splined heads corresponding in diameter to openings through the jaw members 114, extend through each of the jaws 114 and the head member 62a for attaching the jaws 114 to the head member 62a and also for connecting the head member 62a to the lower end of the shaft 74a.

A bearing member 120 connected by a transverse pin 122 to the lower end of the shaft 74a has a downwardly facing curved surface 124 positioned within a cavity formed in the top side of the head member 62a and having an upwardly facing similarly curved surface 126. A mounting plate 128, supported on the upper end of bearing member 120 at a position adjacent a transverse shoulder on the shaft 74a has down-turned end portions clamped on the bolts 118.

By virtue of this support of the body member 62a on the shaft 74a, the body member 62a may be tilted slightly as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 7 while still providing for a full bearing engagement of the bearings member 120 with the body member 6211. As a result, the reaction force on the head member 62a during clamping of a pipe is efliciently transferred to the shaft 74a and the frame 24a.

In use, the vise 20a is usable with a somewhat wider range of pipe sizes than is the pipe vise 20 by virtue of the inclusion in the vise20a of the five jaw members 100, 102 and 114. As illustrated diagrammatically in Fig. 11, a maximum size pipe, indicated at 131a, is engaged by four of the jaws when the vise 20a is operated to clamp the pipe 131a therein. An intermediate size pipe 131i; is engaged only by the upper jaws 114 and the single lower jaw 100 as is also the case with the maximum size pipe indicated at 1310. By comparing the clamping action of the jaws in the vise20a on the three different sized pipes 131a, b and c, it is seen that a pipe of any one of the three sizes is engaged by the jaws at three positions on the periphery of the pipe, and that these three positions are fairly well spaced, considering the peripheral dimensions of the pipes. For example, in clamping the pipe 131a, the jaws 102 engage portions of the pipe which are circumferentially spaced relative to each other and to the portion of the pipe engaged by the jaws 114. When the pipe size is reduced so that only the lower jaw 100 engages the pipe, as is the case with the pipes 131b and 1310, the upper jaws 114 engage portions of the pipe which are fairly well spaced from each other and from the pipe portion engaged by the jaw 100. As illustrated in Fig. 11, the outermost teeth on the jaws 114 engage the larger pipe 13112 and the inner teeth engage the smaller pipe 1310.

From the above description, it is seen that this invention provides a pair of pipe vises 20 and 20a, each of which includes a plurality of duplicate jaw members. In each vise, the jaw members are duplicates and therefore interchangeable to thus reduce the cost of manufacture of the vises 20 and 20a. Furthermore, each jaw member is mounted for easy removal when the jaw becomes worn and is readily assembled with the appropriate vise by the use of the bolts or cap screws illustrated. The transverse extensions 90 and 90a for the vises function as mounting legs to facilitate the attachment of the vises to a horizontal table surface or the like. While only threeand five-jaw vises have been i1- lustrated and described in detail, it is to be understood that vises intended to be used with pipes of larger sizes may include an additional number of jaw members to provide for gripping of the pipes at points which are sufficiently spaced.

Although the invention has been described with respect to several embodiments thereof, it is to be understood that it is not to be so limited, since changes can be made therein which are within the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

l. A pipe vise comprising a base, a frame hingedly supported on said base for movement to a position in which a portion of the frame is opposite and in a spaced relation with said base, means carried by the frame for engagement with the base for releasably maintaining said frame in said position, a first jaw member supported on said base at a position centrally thereof, second and third jaw members each substantially duplicating said first jaw member and releasably supported on said base on opposite sides of said first jaw member, a head member slidably supported on said frame for guided movement toward and away from said base, a screw member threadably supported on said frame and connected to said head member for moving the head member, and fourth and fifth jaw members carried by said head member at a position opposlte said first jaw member.

2. A pipe vise comprising a base, a frame hingedly supported on said base for movement to a position in which a portion of the frame is opposite and in a spaced relation with said base, means carried by the frame for engagement with the base for releasably maintaining said frame in said position, three substantially duplicate jaw members releasably supported on said base in a side by side spaced relation, a head member slidably supported on said frame for guided movement toward and away from said base, a pair of jaw members each substantially duplicating each of said three jaw members, said last mentioned jaw members being releasably supported on said head member in a side by side adjacent position opposite the center one of said three jaws, and means supported on said frame and connected to said head member for advancing and retracting said head member relative to said base.

3. A pipe vise comprising a base, a frame mounted on said base so that a portion of the frame is above and opposite said base, a plurality of substantially duplicate jaw members, each of said jaw members being generally rectangular in shape and having teeth extending longitudinally of one side thereof, means releasably attaching a pair of said jaw members to said base at spaced positions in which said jaw members are inclined downwardly toward each other in directions transversely thereof, means mounting a third one of said jaw members on said base in a horizontal position substantially midway between and below said pair of jaw members, a head member guidably mounted on said frame for guided up and down movement toward and away from said three jaw members, means mounting another pair of said jaw members on said head member at positions in which the said other jaw members are inclined transversely thereof in directions upwardly toward each other, said other pair of jaw members being arranged in a closely spaced relation directly above said third jaw member.

4. A pipe vise comprising a base, a frame hingedly supported on said base for movement to a position in which a portion of the frame is opposite and in a spaced relation with said base, means carried by the frame for engagement with the base for releasably maintaining said frame in said position, a first jaw member supported on said base at a position centrally thereof, second and third jaw members each substantially duplicating said first jaw member and removably supported on said base on opposite sides of said first jaw member, a head member slidably supported on said frame for guided movement toward and away from said base, a screw member threadably supported on said frame and connected to said head member for moving the head member, and jaw means including at least one jaw member substantially duplicating each of said first, second and third jaw members and mounted on said head member at a position opposite said first jaw member.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE QERTIFICATION OF CORRECTION Patent No, 2,958,245 November 1, 1960 Walter Neef et al.

It is hereby certified that error appears in the above numbered patent requiring correction and that the said Letters Patent should read as corrected below,

Column 2 line 17, after "each" insert jaw line 48, for "lose read loose column 4, line 74, for maxin lulrn" read minimum Signed and sealed this 2nd day of May 1961,

(SEAL) Attest:

ERNEST W. SWIDER DAVID La- LADD Attesting Officer Commissioner of Patents 

